Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Raised to Buy at Citigroup

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) was upgraded by stock analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $33.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.38% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Benchmark lowered their price target on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.71.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $28.60 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Veeco Instruments has a twelve month low of $25.52 and a twelve month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $184.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. Veeco Instruments’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total value of $71,675.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 80,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,297,671.14. The trade was a 3.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. 272 Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 116.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

Veeco Instruments Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, sells, and supports semiconductor and thin film process equipment primarily to make electronic devices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, China, Rest of the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company offers laser annealing, ion beam deposition and etch, metal organic chemical vapor deposition, single wafer wet processing and surface preparation, molecular beam epitaxy, advanced packaging lithography, atomic layer deposition, and other deposition systems.